We learn Green Arrow has bio-scanners built into his goggles, which I guess is as good an excuse as any for him not rocking the classic domino mask. Still no explanation why the only facial hair he’s ever shown with is a perpetual 5 o’clock shadow, however.

We also learn Blood Rose is a robot. Honestly, did not see that one coming.

Something about Green Arrow’s final confrontation at Midas/Blood Rose’s hideout felt really strong. Ollie got some good quips in and came off as smart and resourceful and I even found myself lamenting the fact that these characters look like they won’t be appearing in further Green Arrow adventures. The additional kick to the teeth is the fact that this is the final issue written by Keith Giffen, meaning we’re losing a writer as soon as, I feel, he’s found the character’s voice.

In the end, Ollie takes a moment to savor his victory over the Seattle skyline. He kicks back and...pops open a beer. This beer happens to be in a long, golden can, which looks suspiciously similar to the long, golden canisters Green Arrow carries on his hip. It’s official: Green Arrow is the new Iron Man.

Action Comics #6

Hey, kids, remember how last month I lamented not knowing what was going on? This issue has the slight problem of assuming I understood last month’s issue, so the resulting effect is similar to walking into the middle of a movie.

So, anyway, we meet some midget dealer in alien tech, who had the Anti-Superman Army (which seems to consist of a trio of kryptonite-powered punks called The K-Men, a mummy, and a robot cowboy) steal the kryptonite engine of Superman’s childhood spaceship. It’s explained that all colors of kryptonite will be grown from this one engine, which I like as an explanation much better than, say, a meteor shower.

Superman of the future shows up to save the jeans-’n-boots wearin’ Superman of the past, along with an older version of the Legion of Superheroes! Also, Superman gets to punch a T-rex.

Aww, man. We get flashbacks to young Clark with Pa Kent and...it really makes me hate that the Kents are dead in-continuity. Who’s going to be Clark’s sounding board for...y’know, superhero stuff?

I liked this issue (surely it was leaps and bounds above last month’s headscratcher), but what really makes it shine is the backup story “Last Day,” which has Clark ready to leave for college and reminiscing on his farmboy memories before handing the farm over to a family friend.

Swamp Thing #6

Swamp Thing continues its run as unlikeliest good book of the New 52...even with a new artist who’s trying in vain to reproduce the bizarre, organic panel structure of his predecessors. I’m sorry, Marco Rudy, but you need to either commit to a 2-page spread of cracked-out weirdness or just stick with a conventional panel layout. Also, you don’t draw the creepy kid creepy enough.

We learn Abby (Alec’s gal pal for most of the previous 5 issues) is the evil version of Alec; serving “the Rot” instead of “the Green.”

Alec pulls his best Terminator 2 impression, fleeing from the Rot on Abby’s motorcycle and USING A FRIGGIN’ SHOTGUN TO KILL SOME EVIL LACKEYS! Seriously, who thought we’d see the day when Swamp Thing would get to use a shotgun?!

Um...I guess Alec Holland’s dead now. Tune in next month for the adventures of some new guy being Swamp Thing, I guess.

Realistically, we wouldn’t be killing off the title character in issue #6 of a book that’s not even being cancelled. Conversely, kinda hard to walk a “chainsaw-to-the-chest wound” off.

Stormwatch #6

I’m sorry, Stormwatch is always a solid book, I just usually don’t have much to say about it other than “this issue was good.”

With their headquarters falling to pieces, Jack communicates with the “soul” of the “city” that is their space station. This turns out to be an alien artificial intelligence that regards Stormwatch as invading parasites. I kinda like Jack, so seeing his attempts to barter a way out of the ship’s destruction was a clever way out for the team.

Martian Manhunter tosses in a quick retcon saying he’s actually never attempted to join the Justice League. Are you sure? Because that’s not what you said back in issue #1...

...and some blatant setup for the next storyline. I’ll say this about DC, they know how to keep you coming back.

Lone Ranger #2

I like to imagine the Lone Ranger stories as being old pulp comics from a bygone era. At least that’s my excuse for text boxes with stuff like “translated from Native American tribal language” in them...

There is an adorable scene of the Lone Ranger and Tonto meeting up with some little fanboy kids. It’s chock full of great dialogue like:

“Where’s Silver? Is he really ten feet tall?”

“Ten? No...I don’t think so. He’d be pretty hard to mount.”

Tonto makes it real easy to like him in just a few sentences. At one point he waxes philosophical about white man’s illusion of control over the west and, frankly, it’s hard to argue with him.

This issue feels a bit more melancholy than the previous one, with the Lone Ranger coming face-to-face with a childhood hero. It’s a quieter issue than last month’s, but I don’t mind. It tells the story it set out to in a rather eloquent way and shows the Ranger has some sharp wits about him to solve seemingly impossible problems.

Kirby: Genesis - Captain Victory #3

This was another solid entry in the Kirby: Genesis family that, frankly, you should be reading if you love comics.

Justice League International #6

Batman basically makes a cameo appearance to pep talk Booster Gold into continuing the JLI with or without the UN’s involvement.

In a “down time” moment, August General in Iron learns about the beauty of hotdogs. Poor guy, never had a hotdog before...

August General in Iron also does his best Thing impression and clobbers an evil van. Have I mentioned he’s one of my favorite characters in this team?

Oh, and the JLI exploded at the end. Couple this with Swamp Thing and DC had themselves a sick little week this week, didn’t they?

That's all for this week. Tune in next week for more drama, more comics, and more Peach the Destroyer!